Hosiery bander

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for wrapping hosiery with a band having pressure sensitive adhesive on one side. A pair of heads are rotated to depress end flaps of the band that are raised by a pair of breaking fingers.

United States Patent Stout 14 1 Sept. 3, 1974 [54] HOSIERY BANDER 2,027,010 111936 Ziegler 53/218 2,066,449 1/1937 Barrett; 53/218 [75] lnvemor- Pom, 2,847,810 8/1958 Davey et a1. 53/198 R 73 Assignee: Pal-amount Southern C0. i 2,858,657 11/1958 Guthrie 53/218 Point 3,057,133 10/1962 3,629,991 12/1971 Sundin 53/198 R X [22] Filed: Nov. 13, 1972 [21 Appl No: 306 327 Primary Examiner-Travis S. McGehee Assistant Examiner-.1. Sipos Attorney, Agent, or Firm1-1ume, Clement, Brinks, [52] US. Cl. 53/198 R, 53/218 w u ()lds & Cook, [51] Int. Cl B65b 13/02, B65b 49/08 [58] held of Search 53/198 R, 21(2),6.92/128l; [57] ABSTRACT 1 Apparatus for wrapping hosiery with a band having 5 References Cited pressure sensitive adhesive on one side. A pair of UNITED STATES PATENTS heads are rotated to depress end flaps of the band that are raised by a pair of breaking fingers. 953,941 4/1910 Borgfeldt 269/21 1,052,300 2/1913 Zeeman 269/21 1 Claim, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEDSEPS I914 v sum 1 I a Nqm m HOSIERY BANDER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention is related to means for packaging hosiery and in particular to apparatus for mechanically wrapping a band aroundhosiery. It has become common to package a pair of stockings by wrapping them with a pressure sensitive adhesive band.

In the past, this operation has been performed by hand. Obviously, it is desirable to reduce the cost of the banding operation by performing it mechanically.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention presents apparatus for mechanically banding hosiery. A platform receives the band having pressure sensitive adhesive applied to one side and the band is held in place by suction. The stockings are manually positioned on the band and sequentially, a pair of fingersbreak the band at two positions to present vertical flaps and a pair of arms swing into position to press the fiaps onto the stockings. The fingers and arms are then retracted, the vacuum removed, and the banded stockings removed by the operator so that the cycle may be repeated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION DRAWINGS The features of this invention will become more apparent in the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment read in conjunction with the figures in which:

FIG. 1 is a top view of a banderembodying the principles of this invention. 7

FIG. 2 is a side view, partially broken away, of the bander depicted in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3-7 are schematic illustrations of the operations of the bander depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the Figures, wherein like reference numerals indicate like parts, a bander employing the principles of this invention is generally depicted by the reference numeral 10. The banderl is of generally rectangular shape and includes a top plate 12, side plate 14, a pair of end plates 16 and a bottom member 18.

The top plate 12 includes a plurality of small apertures 20 which are vacuum ports for holding the band on the top plate 12. On either side of the vacuum ports 20 three longitudinal slots 22 are formed in the top plate 12. The slots 22 permit the passage of breaking fingers as will be later described.

A rectangular dished out member 24 is attached to the underside of top plate 12 and defines a vacuum chamber 26 underneath the vacuum ports 20. The member 24 is tightly affixed to the top plate 12 so that it is effectively sealed where the two are in contact. A coupling-28 protrudes from the vacuum chamber 26 for connection to a hose-30 which is also connected to a coupling 32 disposed on the right end plate 16. The outer coupling 32 is attached to a hose 34 which is connected to a vacuum source (not shown). Suitable controls (not shown) permit the vacuum to be selectively applied through the vacuum ports 20.

the other. Preferably, the bands are delivered to the bander 10 by a stripping mechanism (not shown) such that the center of the band overlies the vacuum ports 20 and the band is disposed symmetrically relative to the rectangular top plate 12. A pair of breaking fingers 36 are provided to initially raise the end flaps of the band into a substantially vertical position. The breaking fingers 36, in this preferred embodiment, each include three thin members disposed rotatably on a shaft 38. The fingers 36 pass through the corresponding slots 22 in'the top plate 12. Preferrably, the breaking fingers 36 are balanced such that they are normally in a retracted position. To raise the fingers 36, a horizontally acting solenoid 40 is coupled through a spring 42 with each set of fingers 36. When the solenoids 40 are activated the fingers are pivoted into a vertical position extending through the slots 22.

The banding operation is completed by a pair of arms 43 which are pivotally mounted to a shaft 45. The arms 43 carry plates 44 which press the band into its final position. A pair of springs 46 are provided to bias the heads 44 into a retracted position. The heads 44 are rotated to press the band into position by a pair of rotary solenoids 48. When the solenoids 48 are activated, the

Typically, the bands which will be applied by the bander 10 are rectangular in shape and have pressure sensitive adhesive on one side and printed material on arms 42 and the pressure heads 44 carried thereon are rotated against the force of the springs 46.

The horizontal solenoids 40, the rotary solenoids 48 and the means forselectively applying the vacuum are sequenced by a cam mechanism (not shown) which acts on relays to properly sequence the action of the solenoids and the vacuum source. However, such sequencing mechanisms are well known to those who are skilled in the art and need not be described in detail herein.

Turning now to FIGS. 37, the sequential operations of the bander 10 will be described in more detail. FIG. 3 illustrates the position after a band 50 as been delivered to the top plate by the stripping mechanism (not shown) and overlies the vacuum ports 20. The vacuum is on when the band 50 is delivered to the bander 10. The operator then places a pair of socks 52 on top of the band and activates a foot switch or the like. The sequencing mechanism then automatically causes the operations set forth in FIGS. 4-7 to take place.

In FIG. 4 the breaking fingers 36 have been raised to the vertical position by the activation of the horizontal solenoids 40. The end flaps 54 of the band 50 are raised to a vertical position from which they may be finally pressed into position.

In FIG. 5 the right hand arm 43 has been rotated by the action of its associated solenoid 48 such that the head 44 has pushed the right flap 54 of the band 50 into its final position around the socks 52.

In-FIG. 6 the right hand head 44 has been retracted by the action of its associated spring 46 and the left head 44 has been rotated clockwise to depress the left hand flap 54 into its final position.

In FIG. 7 the left head 44 has been retracted along with the breaking'fingers 36 and the vacuum is turned ofi' at this point. The banded stockings may then be removed from the top plate 12 and placed in an appropriate container.

It is desirable to provide a measure of adjustability to the bander l0 and that feature is included in this preferred embodiment. The left breaking finger 36 with its associated solenoid 40 is laterally movable with respect to the top plate 12. This accounts for the greater length of the left slots 22 than those on the right side. The breaking fingers 36 and the solenoid 40 are attached to a plate 56 which underlies the top plate 12. A pair of L-shaped channel members 58 are attached to the lower plate 56 and slide along the top plate 12. A set screw 60 is provided to position the left breaking apparatus securely. The left breaking apparatus may be adjusted by simply releasing the set screw 60, sliding the left breaking apparatus to the desired position and tightening the set screw 60. The set screw 60 extends through a slot in its associated side plate 14.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for banding hosiery with a pressure sensitive adhesive band comprising:

a banding platform;

a plurality of vacuum ports formed in said platform for holding a pressure sensitive adhesive band in position on said platform;

at least two, spaced, rotatable fingers mounted beneath said platform and being rotatable through said platform for breaking said band to form two substantially vertical flaps subsequent to an article of hosiery being placed on said band;

a pair of spaced, rotatably mounted depressing heads for depressing said substantially vertical flaps in overlapping relation on said hosiery, said depressing heads having intersecting arcs of travel; and

means for sequentially rotating and retracting said depressing heads such that said flaps are depressed sequentially and the depressing heads do not contact one another during the banding operation. 

1. Apparatus for banding hosiery with a pressure sensitive adhesive band comprising: a banding platform; a plurality of vacuum ports formed in said platform for holding a pressure sensitive adhesive band in position on said platform; at least two, spaced, rotatable fingers mounted beneath said platform and being rotatable through said platform for breaking said band to form two substantially vertical flaps subsequent to an article of hosiery being placed on said band; a pair of spaced, rotatably mounted depressing heads for depressing said substantially vertical flaps in overlapping relation on said hosiery, said depressing heads having intersecting arcs of travel; and means for sequentially rotating and retracting said depressing heads such that said flaps are depressed sequentially and the depressing heads do not contact one another during the banding operation. 